Adesso Wireless Keyboard WKB-4200UB

22 Apr 2010

This is the third Adesso Wireless Keyboard I’ve reviewed. So far, I’ve had mixed results with their keyboards, and I find the latest unit they sent me (the WKB-4200UB) a mixed bag as well.

Like the WKB-4000UB that I reviewed previously, it has a reasonable-sized dongle that snaps underneath the keyboard when not in use. It uses that crowded 2.4 Ghz spectrum for sending and receiving, but it doesn’t appear to cause any issues with my WiFi or Bluetooth.

The keyboard itself is also very similar to the WKB-4000UB in terms of size of the keys and the keyboard layout, which I find relatively easy to use and type on. The main differences are the size of the keyboard itself, the location of the trackpad, and these special media buttons.

I had difficult getting used to the touchpad mouse on this device. Perhaps because I am now completely won over to how Apple does their touchpad with multitouch, but I also found that, even after adjusting the tracking, I couldn’t make the mouse cursor move with enough precision and speed.

The dealbreaker for me was that unlike most keyboards where the “media keys” more or less work properly on a Mac, on this keyboard, they either don’t work entirely or map completely differently to how they are pictured on the keys. I could not figure out/remember the mapping between the key and what it actually did.

The retail on this keyboard is $119, but a quick Google search shows you can get it for around $84.